Resident reads auditor report, defends long-serving former treasurer

Joan Andrews, who said she worked with former town treasurer Laura May for more than 25 years, used the Feb. 25 select-board hearing of citizens to dispute repeated public claims that May "left our town in an awful mess." Andrews read passages from RH Smith & Company’s audit correspondence and cover letter and urged the public to judge the record.

"The 2023 audit is currently on the town website and it's certified by our auditors," Andrews said, and quoted the auditors’ cover letter that management-letter comments "offer opportunities for strengthening internal control and improving operating efficiencies" but do not "modify our opinion on the financial statements for the year ending December 31st, 2023," which received an unmodified opinion.

Andrews said the management-letter items relate to proposed adjusting journals, bank reconciliations and accounting procedures and emphasized that the auditors reported no disagreements with management and encountered "no significant difficulties" in completing the audit. She told the board that repetition of unsupported assertions about May has harmed the former treasurer’s reputation.

Board members listened as Andrews placed the auditor excerpts on the record; the remarks prompted applause from the room. No formal board action addressing personnel reputation or reopening of the audit was taken at the meeting during the public-comment period.

What’s next: Andrews said she wanted the excerpts on the record; board members did not announce further action at the Feb. 25 meeting.